360 PHOTO: Take a look at strongmen Eddie, Terry and Benni Magnusson as they glare into our 360 degree camera outside the First Direct Arena in Leeds - CLICK HERE.

At 6ft 3ins and 29 stones, Eddie - or The Beast as he is known - has also been the UK's strongest man for five years and just missed out on a podium finish in last year's World Strongest Man final.

He's also the current deadlift world record holder, lifting a knee crunching 463 kgs (1,021 lb), or in 'old money' almost 73 stones.

The race is now on to become the first man to deadlift a seemigly impossible half a metric ton, or 500kg (1,102 lbs).

Britain's strongest man Eddie Hall is in the driving seat to deadlift a world record half a ton at Leeds First Direct Arena

Eddie, chomping through 10,000 calories a day to get bigger than ever, says he's going to be the first to do it - this summer in Leeds.

But he faces giant-sized competition with an extraordinary line-up of strongmen taking part in Leeds, including the legendary Zydrunas 'Big Z' Savickas, of Lithuania, who has won the World's Strongest Man title four times.

Back to defend his crown for the third year is Europe's current strongest man, 6ft 9ins, 30 stone viking Hathor 'Thor' Bjornssson - famed for his role as The Mountain in the hit TV series Game of Thrones.

Car walk strongman Terry Hollands

Benni Magnusson, of Iceland, and Leeds' own Andy Bolton, a former deadlift record holder, are also after Eddie's crown.,

It is the flagship event in the Giants Live World Tour and will be filmed as a Xmas special for Channel FIVE and world-wide TV.

The World Deadlift Championships will be the opening event of the show, which allows the greatest weight-lifters, from not just strongman but power-lifting and weightlifting, to show off their prowess.

Stoke on Trent strongman Eddie broke his world record on the way to victory last year.

He showed off his super strength at Leeds Arena to promote this year's show by demonstrating the car carry with fellow strongman Terry Hollands - standing inside a stripped-down VW Beetle car, missing some of its roof and all of its bottom and interior, to carry it around the Arena.

He said: "That's nothing to what I'm going to do in front of fans in Leeds this year.

Deadlift world record older Eddie Hall

"We've been talking about lifting 500kg for a while now - that's half a ton - and I think This is the day it's going to be done.

"Nothing is impossible. They said putting a man on the moon and running a mile in under four minutes was impossible. We're here to evolve and prove people wrong. This is what we were put on the planet for."

And he's also planning to be Europe's then the World's Strongest Man.

"I'm bigger than ever. I'm now 29 stones, eating 10,000 calories a day to be this big, to compete with all the huge guys like Brian Shaw, Big Z and Thor. I can't stay like this forever. But I want those titles."